The End of Spring Break and A Trip to Upland

Samantha: 70 Months, Week 3
Aedan: 35 Months, Week 1

Our Spring Break continued this week, so I took advantage of my extra time at home on Tuesday to clean the house. The kids were doing okay playing together, but I felt guilty just cleaning and leaving them to their own devices. I wished that I could provide something fun for them to do every day, but there are just not enough things to do around Sault Ste. Marie, especially when the weather is still working on warming up. After a morning at home, I did end up taking them to McDonald's for lunch and some time to play, but they were not acting as interested as usual, especially Aedan. He was just tired and ready for a nap.

The weather was actually warming up, and it was a nice, sunny day on Tuesday, so after eating an earlier dinner, we decided to drive downtown and walk around a little bit. We thought about seeing the locks, but they closed the gates at 6:00, and we didn't get there until after that. However, the kids still had fun walking around on the sidewalks, playing with sticks, and noticing how most of the snow had melted away. That created a lot of mud, but at least it was not snow!

I think it was partially the extra free time that I had during spring break, and the lack of plans with anyone, but I was feeling extra lonely on Tuesday. Moving to a new place is always hard, and now that I have been working full time, it's even harder to get to know people and hang out with other moms and kids. This time of the semester is always hard too because Ben is much busier and stressed out about work. Plus, it was strange that we had different spring breaks, meaning not as much time to spend together. We were all looking forward to getting out of town on Thursday, going down to Upland to see family, and experiencing some real spring weather with green grass, budding trees, and the ability to be outside without winter coats and hats.

This sounds kind of silly, but I was also having a harder time without Roscoe being around since it had been a week since I put him down. I found myself thinking about him a lot more, wondering if Ben fed him his dinner, and looking for him in his spot where his kennel used to be. It's strange being without a dog. We have had one for so long. In fact, it's been difficult for me to not look around for possible dogs or puppies that would work well for our family. Ben and I would love to start out with a puppy so that it can grow up around our kids, and they can get used to it and actually play with it and interact with it. Now is not the best time with everything going on and Ben and I both working full time, but I definitely miss having a dog around the house.

Since I finished all the cleaning on Tuesday, the kids and I had a morning out planned for Wednesday. Aedan got his hair cut that morning, and then we went to the library to check out some books and movies to take on our trip, and there actually ended up being story time that day as well. The kids had a fun time playing at the library, doing puzzles, listening to the stories, and doing the craft. I actually had to make them stop playing so we could leave. I was glad that they were having a fun time, and that we got out of the house for awhile.

After leaving the library, I decided to stop and get them a special treat at a local bakery/restaurant. They had done a really good job for me that morning, and it's not every day that I get special time with just Samantha and Aedan, so I figured I'd take advantage of it. They both picked iced cookies that looked like Easter eggs. Samantha picked purple and Aedan picked orange, or norange as he calls it. They thought their cookies were delicious, and they definitely enjoyed stopping for that snack on the way home.

Later that afternoon after nap time I finally decided to make the announcement of our pregnancy. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought about different ways of doing it, ultimately just using our own chalkboard. We have one boy and one girl, so the tie breaker is coming around September 17, 2017. :) I had Samantha and Aedan do the first picture nice and then the second picture with their hands up as if they were fighting over who was going to win. At this point I was about 15 1/2 weeks pregnant. I feel like time has just flown by during this pregnancy. With working full time and already taking care of two kids, it's harder to even remember that I am pregnant sometimes, and it's definitely harder to remember how many weeks along I am. I thought this was a cute way to announce our pregnancy and make it feel even more real, especially after dealing with close to two years of infertility. We were certainly surprised and overjoyed when we discovered I was pregnant, but sometimes I feel like I haven't let the "reality" of being pregnant sink in quite yet. I'm getting close to halfway now, I'm into the second trimester, so I feel like I can now let myself become more excited and start dreaming and planning for the little baby that will join our family come September.

Thursday morning I worked on getting everything packed up for our trip to Upland while Ben taught his morning classes. We ended up leaving later than we would have liked that afternoon, but it was the best we could do. The kids were really tired, but we waited until we crossed the Mackinac Bridge before telling them they could nap. The kids took naps in the car, which was nice. We then let the kids play, they watched a movie, we stopped for dinner at McDonald's, drove a little bit farther, and then had the kids close their eyes for bed time as well. However, when it came to falling asleep, Aedan did a pretty good job in the back, but Samantha just kept wiggling and readjusting her position, not falling asleep until we were almost in Upland, which was after 10:00.  Luckily, Ben's parents had all the beds set up and ready to go for us, so we let the kids see Ema and Papa and play for a little while after we arrived, and while we got our things unpacked and brought into the house.

Ema put Aedan to bed on his new air mattress in the play room since he no longer needs to sleep in a pack and play, and Papa put Samantha to bed in Ben's old room. Also, Aedan ended up getting a fever that day before we left. When we were at home that morning, he kept complaining about feeling cold and wanted to wear a sweater and a long sleeve shirt. It wasn't a really high fever, but enough that it made him feel pretty crummy.

Ben's parents worked on Friday, so we were on our own for the day. We played in the house in the morning, then we went outside and took a walk/wagon ride over to campus. The kids always enjoy going over to campus. Here are some pictures of our morning.

Samantha is always a little sad and listless when we are at the house before Ema, Papa, Jeni, or Alaina have arrived, so I made sure to spend some extra time with just her that morning, just talking and sitting together.

After getting some energy out outside, we went back to the house to relax and watch a show. Ben and I were exhausted from how busy Thursday was and not sleeping well or long enough. The kids were tired from being out late the night before, so we were glad that everyone took good naps.

Samantha and Aedan were super excited when Ema and Papa got home from work. They love getting personal attention from their grandparents, and visiting Upland is one of their favorite activities. Aedan loved this orange balloon and didn't let it out of his sight for much of the weekend. And in this picture Samantha is showing off her reading skills to Ema and Papa by reading "The Book with No Pictures" to them instead of the other way around. She even reads the book with inflection and silly voices, just like Papa. I love how much she has picked up reading throughout this year in kindergarten. :)

Once Jeni and Alaina finally arrived on Friday night, all was right with the world, and Samantha had her best friend to play with again. They always have such a fun time together.

Aedan definitely had a rougher night on Friday than anyone because he woke up crying three times during the night. We had Samantha in the room with us, so Ben and I took turns rushing over to the monitor to turn it off before Aedan's crying woke Samantha up. One time he cried because he rolled over and fell out of his bed since he wasn't used to sleeping on an air mattress without sides that would keep him in bed, and the other two times were because of losing his blankie or teddy and was not able to find them. I imagine him waking up also had some to do with the fact that he was sleeping on something different, and he still wasn't feeling the greatest after kicking his fever.

On Saturday morning we spent time playing and hanging out around the house. We did bath time in the morning so that we didn't have to take the time to do it after dinner, and then once the weather warmed up a little outside, we played outside for awhile before lunch. It was nice being in Upland and seeing green grass and trees budding and birds chirping. On the other hand, it was kind of depressing to think about getting back home and there still being snow on the ground. Here are some pictures from our time together that Saturday.

After everyone took a much needed nap that afternoon, Jeni, the girls, and I walked over to campus to enjoy some time together. In fact, Aedan was still napping and didn't feel like coming on a walk, so it was kind of nice having it be just a girl time. The weather had turned sunny and warm, and it was a beautiful day to go for a walk. The girls played hide and seek on campus, ran around and played make believe, and danced to the music under the bell tower.

The kids always enjoy our time in Upland with family. They just have the freedom to hang out and play, and they get lots of attention from lots of different family members.

On Sunday morning we got all our stuff packed up and ready to make the long trip back home. The kids are always super sad to leave Upland, especially Samantha. She loves having fun with Alaina. They are definitely best friends and miss each other a lot when they have to part ways. It would be so nice to be able to see them more often.

Our trip back home went pretty well. We stopped in Lansing at Chipotle for lunch, and then, once back in the car it was time for nap time for the kiddos. Luckily, everyone was tired enough that they fell asleep and took good naps. Here are Samantha and Aedan sleeping on our first trip to Upland in our new minivan. It definitely was nice having more space to accommodate an extra person and extra stuff. We have plenty of space for even more!

I was looking forward to see how much of the snow would be gone when we returned home, so I made sure to take a picture of our front yard and across the street. You can see that most of the snow was gone, except for where there were larger piles or where the sun doesn't shine as much. It was definitely a good sign, but I have to admit that I was enjoying the budding trees and flowers that I'm used to seeing at this point in the spring.

(Blog about March 28-April 3, 2017)